


Christmas with the Heroes of Olympus

by ijay



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-13
Updated: 2015-08-13
Packaged: 2018-04-14 13:26:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4566285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ijay/pseuds/ijay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>set in December immediately after the war</p><p>( this was and still is on my tumblr but I did edit it a little. )</p><p>basically: a big mess of everyone's crazy thoughts and problems around Christmastime : )</p><p>CHARACTERS ARE BY RICK RIORDAN THANK YOU UNCLE RICK</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Annabeth**

It’s not weird to ask Percy to come with me to celebrate with my family, right? Does he want to? Would it be weird? Do I want him to see how I act around my family?

**Percy**

I don’t know. I’m kind of sweating, not going to lie.

See, I went to my mom for advice, because that’s what moms give advice on, right? She’s supposed to be good at this sort of thing. And I ask what I should get Annabeth for Christmas.

And as a response, she laughs and tells me that I know her like the back of my hand. There’s no better person to ask but myself.

Which is really helpful, Mom. Thanks.

See, that’s the thing- I have no idea what Annabeth wants. I’ve gotten a bunch of things, and I look at all of them and groan. They’re okay, but none of them are right.

None of them are right.

I feel like the first Christmas after the war should be special. And Annabeth’s special.

And these gifts aren’t special.

**Frank**

I’ve never had a Christmas at New Rome, and neither has Hazel, and I have no idea what to expect.

I need a break from praetorship. This is going to be amazing.

**Hazel**

I couldn’t help but notice after Frank and I kissed how Reyna smiled at us. It was just the worst mixture of bittersweet, sad happiness.

When everyone has free time to themselves tomorrow, I wonder who she’s going to hang out with.

**Reyna**

Would it be odd if I gave Hazel and Frank presents? Do we know each other well enough?

Yes. We do. We’re together all the time- I know what food they like, what they disagree with, what their favorite movies are… But is it just because I’m praetor? Would we even speak to each other if we didn’t have these jobs? I can’t tell.

Discomfort sickens me. I’m going to go over the celebration for tomorrow. Maybe I’ll send Hylla an Arcus-Message…

**Leo**

I’ve been scared. It sounds stupid, but I’ve been scared. I can’t let Calypso see how nervous I am. She’s freaked out enough- already insisting on not going. But they’ve all wanted to see her ever since I dropped in on Thanksgiving… I can’t say no.

Honestly? Secretly, terribly… I kind of want to agree with Calypso, and say no. Which is terrible. Absolutely terrible. They’re my best friends. And she’s my best friend. I should want them to meet each other. And I do want them to meet each other. I’m just afraid that somehow, with the luck I have, with the hands I have, I’ll make this all go wrong…

**Calypso**

What if he realizes that he misses his friends more than he likes me?

**Jason**

Will and Nico. How can they both be so blind?

I didn’t want to do this, but I’m going to need to bring in some bigger help.

**Piper**

I don’t know how much Christmas means to Jason, but it means a lot to me. I want to spend it with him, and the rest of Camp Half-Blood, but how can I when my dad for the first time in five years has two whole uninterrupted days to spend with me?

**Nico**

Gods, I hate him.

**Will**

Gods, I like him.

 

**Reyna**

Hylla didn’t answer.

I wish I could talk to Nico. I don’t know- I’m feeling kind of…

I’m not feeling very festive, or anything joyful at all at the moment. I just want to talk to somebody. Anybody.

It hurts to admit it.

I have to call Nico. But what if he’s in the middle of something? Should I interrupt him?

**Piper**

Leo’s coming, too, with Calypso. How can I choose? How many other times will I get to see Leo, now that he’s going around the world with Calypso half the time? How many other Christmases will my dad have TIME for?

**Nico**

But I kind of really do like him at the same time. What’s wrong with me?

**Will**

I kind of hate him at the same time, though. What’s going on with him?

**Calypso**

He told me he loved me, once. I sang to Festus when he started malfunctioning, while Leo fixed him. He hasn’t malfunctioned since. The last time Leo checked up on Festus was last week- and then he sang around me and kissed me and told me he loved me.

Leo did, not Festus.

Anyways.

I think it’s the first time I’ve heard it like that. “I love you!” In that exact way. In that happy-go-lucky, romantic way, thrown out to the wind like it’s a fact.

Leo is a collection of many firsts, though.

I don’t know why I’m remembering this now, and why it fills me with so much terror as we fly to the camp he loves so much.

**  
**  


**Annabeth**

I just want him to be my side. It’s really short notice, too- I have two tickets, and everything, and I told Sally, but I (for some reason?) haven’t told him.

He’s probably going to say no. It’s too late- I should’ve asked him a while ago. Or he doesn’t want to see my family after I ranted about them for so long. Or he’ll be too nervous to meet my stepmom, or something, even though he already met her.

This is so complicated.

**Percy**

I just don’t know how to tell her, with all these little things, how much she means-

I gave her the red coral pendant when we first started dating, and she seemed to like it. So that was special. It was from Poseidon’s palace itself. But I can’t do the same thing twice. And I don’t know if I picked out the right clothes, and I don’t know what types of things she reads, and I just don’t know if she’ll be disappointed in me, and I’ve never really spent a Christmas with her… like, as my girlfriend…

This is so complicated.

**Frank**

Reyna just told me I had to lead holiday ceremonies tomorrow.

I didn’t realize the Romans celebrated Christmas! Or Hannukah! For some reason, I always thought that Romans didn’t believe in God? Because they believed in this thing called Roman mythology?

Reyna told me that it doesn’t matter: Christmas is Christmas. You can still be a Demigod and have religious beliefs. Which is true. I just don’t like talking in front of holiday ceremonies.

I just want to relax. I know that sounds lazy. I know I have a duty to perform at all costs. And I’ll perform it. But I was really looking forward to a day curled up on a couch watching movies.

**Reyna**

Oh, gods. I knew I shouldn’t have called.

**Nico**

I don’t know what was going to happen before Reyna Iris-Messaged me.

All I know was he was laughing (at me),  and I’d turned away, and he laughed some more and pulled my arm back, and we were really close. His eyes are really blue.

Something happened, and I get really nervous thinking about it, and I don’t know what would’ve happened, until-

**Jason**

No!

**Will**

No!

**Jason**

Don’t walk away, you idiot! Get back there! Get back to Nico!

**Nico**

“Hey, Reyna.”

**Reyna**

“Gods, Nico, I’m sorry. This wasn’t that important anyways. I’m sorry I interrupted-”

**Nico**

“No, no. There was nothing to interrupt.”

**Reyna**

“Oh?”

**Nico**

“There was nothing that you interrupted.”

**Reyna**

_He’s lying._

**Nico**

_The subject needs to change now._

**Reyna**

“I was calling, because… I’m sorry. I don’t really know why I called.”

**Nico**

“Reyna. Don’t be sorry. Just tell me.”

**Reyna**

“I’m not feeling that great.”

**Nico**

“You’re sick?”

**Reyna**

“No. Not physically. I’m just feeling a little lonely, I guess.”

**Nico**

“I’m always here for you. Do you want me to come over tomorrow, or-”

**Reyna**

“I wish I could say yes, but even if you did, I’ll be doing Christmas ceremonies all day. We wouldn’t be able to… to ‘hang out’, or anything.”

**Nico**

“Not a problem. I can-”

**Reyna**

“No, Nico, I don’t want you to do that for me. I want you to spend it with someone who can actually give you time. Maybe… I don’t know… Will seems like he’ll be free…”

**Nico**

“I know what you’re doing.”

**Reyna**

“You guys seem happy-”

**Nico**

“Stop it. Stop it right now.”

**Reyna**

“Nico-”

**Nico**

_My ears are turning red._

**Reyna**

_His ears are turning red._

**Nico**

“Reyna. Please.”

**Reyna**

“All right. As you wish.”

**Nico**

_Finally_.

**Reyna**

“But I don’t want you coming over just for me. It wouldn’t be worth it.”

**Nico**

“You know that I could-”

**Reyna**

“Give me a call tomorrow? That should be enough to cheer me up.”

**Nico**

“You’re not alone anymore. You realize that, right?”

**Reyna**

“I know. I do know it. And the loneliness really is much better, now. It’s just that the doubt is still there sometimes.”

**Nico**

“Sometimes it’s hard to see what’s right in front of you. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

**Reyna**

“Thank you. And Nico?”

**Nico**

“What?”

**Reyna**

“May I say one more thing, without you interrupting me?”

**Nico**

“I’m afraid.”

**Reyna**

“Sometimes it’s hard to see what’s right in front of you.”

**Nico**

_What? I don’t under-_

**Reyna**

“He was trying to hold your hand.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Hazel**

I went over to Reyna’s office, and she wasn’t there.

I need to get Frank.

**Piper**

He’s coming up to me, now. Maybe he’ll ask what we’re doing tomorrow. And I’ll have to tell him that I don’t know, that I’ll probably be flying out to meet my dad, leaving him and Leo behind…

I feel terrible.

This was supposed to be a reunion, and I re-uined it. I mean, I ruined it.

Oh. Oh.

He’s asking…

**Jason**

Piper said yes, with that mischievous grin on her face. Meaning that business is happening.

This is going to work.

**Calypso**

I am so unused to snow. I faintly remember it, a long while ago, but it’d become forgotten. Ogygia didn’t have snow.

And I am so unused to this- “Christmas”. It’s a big deal. Such a big deal that even this Greek camp springs these loud, colorful, fake decorations against the green and white.

I am not sure how I feel about it.

It is so not like Ogygia, which is why I like it.

And it is so not like Ogygia, which is why I do not like it.

We have landed. The sun is setting along the ocean- this I do recognize, and it is this that is just the barest amount of comfort I need to feel somewhat at place in this world.

Leo is floating with joy.

I’m afraid.

**Leo**

Man. Man, this place…

I’ve missed it. I’ve missed it a lot. Even though I came for a visit last month…

Man.

I see… Nico. Huh. Weird. He’s the first one that popped out to me. I almost didn’t recognize him. He doesn’t have all the weight on his shoulders, or the scowl etched on his face… Oh, wait. I feel like Jason told me he was gay. Maybe coming out lifted his burden. Well, good for you, dude!

My crew! Nyssa! Jake! Even Will, who wasn’t in my cabin, but came by every day to give me daily reminders that I was an idiot! Good to see you, guys!

Oh- there’s the scary blonde I was looking for! Annabeth! Along with- ahem- uh, Percy. I stole a glance at Calypso, and she’s too busy closing her eyes on my back to notice. I kind of doubt she’s asleep- it’s a little hard to fall asleep on a flying dragon…

My heart beat faster as I thought of introducing Calypso to everyone. I gave her a kiss, afraid she could hear my heartbeat through my ribcage. I gotta chill out.

Oh. Oh, man. Jason. Piper. Coach Hedge. Coach Hedge and a baby. I could feel my chest explode with the thought of getting down there and just talking to them again…

I gave them a big wave. Piper looks stunned, which is weird. I told them I was coming. But then again, it’s not every day that a dashing young man riding a dragon with his beautiful girlfriend drops in.

I want to sing, and I don’t sing. I want to dance, and I can’t dance. I want to scream and jump, but I’m on the back of a metal dragon.

I’m a ball of fiery fear, love, happiness, and crazy.

Leo’s back, baby!

**Frank**

I put my hands in my head, massaging my temples. Another long day. Two Senate meetings, Christmas Eve ceremonies, speeches, honoring a newly elected member of the legion. This was the first bit of free time I had to myself.

Not that I’m complaining. It’s my job, my duty. It’s a great honor to be a praetor.

But, yes. It was a long day.

**Hazel**

“Frank,” I found him behind the Senate building, head in hands. He really is regally beautiful- his skin looks like liquid honey in the lamplight.

And he’s mine.

I felt my cheeks grow hot as I thought those words. I pushed it away and felt my face relax into a shy, embarrassed smile.

“Frank,” I sat down with him. “We’ve messed up. We forgot to wrap Reyna’s presents. And make her cards. We need to do all of that toni-”

I paused, seeing his hunched figure. Seeing how exhausted his eyes looked when he raised his head.

“Oh, my gods. Frank. Have you eaten anything today?”

I heard a cough, and something that sounded suspiciously like me “sounding like his grandmother”.

“Oh, be quiet,” I told him. “How are you going to get through ceremonies tomorrow?”

He groaned, barely. I slipped my hand into his, my mind racing.

Two praetors. Both seem ill- one emotionally, the other physically.

Both were occupied on Christmas- all day.

I sighed. “Let’s get you to a couch.”

**Piper**

They weren’t supposed to be here until tomorrow!

**Nico**

I watched them. I watched them fly down from the sky, and I watched everyone huddle out to watch them, and I watched him climb down from Festus and lift Calypso off of his back also, and I watched everyone else shift, like something in the air suddenly became heated.

And I watched Leo kick his heels in the air and open up his arms.

“We’re here!”

**Leo**

The worst part was definitely going to be Annabeth and Percy, I’d decided.

Piper loved the girl. Piper especially enjoyed sharing stories of me- the ones I didn’t really necessarily want to share- accidentally firing the missile into the Roman camp.

Calypso had raised her eyebrows at me accusingly, laughing. Jason was also a nervous point for me… Standing next to Jason, who would she choose- him or me?

But he was quiet, and laughed at her jokes, and she seemed to graciously appreciate him as a nice guy, while stealing looks at me every once in a while. My heart leaped. She still wanted me. I wanted to kiss her on the face right there, but I managed to control myself.

And then Percy. Her old love. He was seeing her for the first time in years. I didn’t know who would blow up first- Annabeth, Percy, or Calypso.

Percy stepped forwards, and my heart sank. He had the outrageous nerve to look cleaned up tonight, for whatever reason.

He smiled sadly. “Calypso. Hey. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood.”

He reached out a hand.

Her eyes had flitted to me, for a split-second. There was a panic to her face.. My face had immediately changed, smiling at her with as much encouragement as I could. She needed me. She needed me to be the calm one.

Calypso relaxed, smiling with a type of grace I’d never be able to have if I was in her position. She shook his hand gingerly. “Hi, Percy. Nice to see you.”

Here was a dead end. I had no idea how we were supposed to go from here. I had no idea how the rest of this conversation would be able to run smoothly.

It was Annabeth. That girl… I’ll never forget it.

She came forwards, reaching out her hand. “Hi,” she said. “I’m Annabeth. ”

I knew Calypso was going to seize up. I knew it. I could see it in her face. This was too much.- Percy, my friends, this camp, snow, Christmas… it was too much…

“I know,” Annabeth looked at her, with determined eyes, blazing her words on forward, “That this is all probably a lot to take in. More than a lot, since you’re just seeing the world now for the first time in thousands and thousands of years. And I can’t even imagine how crazy it must be for you. So, I, uh, have something for you.”

She gingerly took out a small packet from her jacket, looking down at the snow, and looking back up again. “It’s the moonlace. The plant that you gave Percy, a couple years ago? It grew. And there’s some of its seeds in there, and some nectar, and some dirt, and I don’t know if you even have a place to grow a garden, but if you want to, you can grow it. I mean, you probably have some plants already that you brought with you, and maybe you don’t want to remember Ogygia, but if you ever feel like it’s too much and you need to get away from it all, this is there for you to plant.”

Calypso couldn’t move for a while. She just stared at the package.

I moved forward, about to take it for her, when she snapped into action, putting a hand out to keep me back. She delicately took a hold of the gift, and looked suspiciously towards Annabeth. There was a bit of… longing there, too. And awe. The sort of awe that left you speechless, unsure where to go to next. “Do you always give gifts to newcomers, or-?”

“Oh, no. It’s a Christmas present. On Christmas, you give a bunch of-”

“Oh,” her tone changed. “Oh.”

She cupped her hands around the package and held it close, looking at me. “So, this is-”

“Yep.”

“I thought you opened it on Christmas morning.”

“You normally do. But I just thought it seemed fitting tonight,” Annabeth gave another hesitant smile. And after a beat, Calypso gave a smile back.

It was genuine.

They weren’t exactly best friends, all of a sudden. But they were good. And from the way she looked around, from her to Percy to the people around them, and then turned to me, I realized that we were good, too.

Percy wasn’t going to get in the way.

I almost danced.

“The campfire,” I told her, pulling her hand excitedly towards the growing orange glow. “Singing. Your specialty. You’re going to love it.”

And they all followed.

**Hazel**

Frank’s passed out.

Reyna’s nowhere to be found.

The holiday celebrations tomorrow just don’t sound so fun anymore.

**Percy**

We’re in the taxi now, heading to my mom’s house. Annabeth’s acting all… Twitchy.

Wait- she’s asking me-

What?

**Annabeth**

I can go through Tartarus and I’m terrified by Percy’s face right now?

**Piper**

We were laughing together! She was having a good time! We were sharing funny Leo stories!

Why did I have to tell her about Khione, Thalia, Hazel, and Echo?

**Jason**

“You don’t suck.”

“I do. I didn’t need to tell her about them. Why did I tell her about them? I never screw up like that- I never let my mouth run away with me. It’s always Leo that does. Why- when he needs this night most- do I ruin it for him-”

“He’s with her right now. You didn’t ruin anything. Trust me, Pipes. You messed up a little bit, but you didn’t ruin anything. They’re in love.”

“Gods, I know. They’re head over heels. But still-”

“And if they do fight, you can fix it. You’re the daughter of Aphrodite, remember? You are the daughter of love itself. You can do anything.”

“You’re so cheesy.”

“Ah, you love it.”

“Maybe I do.” She grinned goofily up at me, and I grinned back. She pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose, and then focused on something-someones- behind me. “Speaking of love…” She nodded towards Will and Nico stealing glances at each other across the campfire.

“We should probably do something about that.”

I smiled. “Who’s the cheesy one now?”

**Leo**

I always find a way to screw things up. Always.

I hate myself.

Where is she?

**Nico**

“He likes you.”

Piper. Her arms were folded.

Will, I immediately thought. “Who?” I asked, my heart slamming into my head. “I mean, what? I me- I don’t know what you’re-”

“You know who. The guy you like. You forget- I’m a daughter of Aphrodite. I know feelings.”

It took me a beat before I closed up, narrowing my eyes. “You don’t know feelings. You don’t have empathy powers. I would’ve known that already.”

“Whoops, gotta run,” she checked her watch, not denying what I said. “I’m late. But he does like you, you know.”

“How do you know? And you’re late for what?”

She was already gone.

**Reyna**

Christmas was always a little depressing for me.

There were losses every year. Always someone to turn to and find them not there. Sometimes, it wasn’t even deaths. Jason disappeared last year. And he was gone this year. It still hurt, even if I did like Piper and the people he left me for. In a way, that hurts even more.

Christmas with my father was terrible. The first Christmas without Hylla was terrible. And the Christmas spent with the savage pirates was terrible.

I did not have much hope that this Christmas would be different.

It was a little tiring, to be honest. All the singing, and joy, and celebrations. Sometimes I found myself wishing that it was all over already.

I sighed, looking out at the dining hall, where laughter and chatting floated up.

I do have a family. Hylla. Hazel. Frank. Nico. Dakota. Bobby. Annabeth. Argentum and Augmentum. Percy, Piper, Jason, Leo.  

It’s just easy to forget when they’re all just a little bit out of reach.

**Leo**

I found her on the bench, tilted towards the inky water.

I went up to her. She wasn’t crying, but sitting pretty scarily, quietly, staring off into the distance.

She was pissed.

Well, duh. Why wouldn’t she be?

Sad. She was also really, really sad.

I wanted to throw up.

“Calypso,” I put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m so-”

“I just want to know,” she said, almost calmly, which made me almost more scared. “If it is true. Khione, Thalia, Echo, Hazel… How many girls were there before me? Were you… not joking when you talked about writing hot stuff on your arm? And the ladies’ man thing? Is that true too?”

**Percy**

“I know, I know-” she’s saying. “It’s so last minute. I don’t know why I waited so long. I never do anything like this. I mean, I told your mom, and not you. I totally understand if you can’t-”

“You want me to go with you,” I asked, making sure I got this right. “Tomorrow- as in, tomorrow afternoon- to LA to spend Christmas with your family?”

Annabeth was refusing to meet my eyes, for some reason. “Yes. Yeah, Percy, but of course if you can’t go you don’t have to-”

“I mean, I don’t have a ticket-”

“Oh, that’s covered. I mean, my stepmom’s brother and his family was going to come over with me, but they caught an earlier flight, and we returned all the tickets except for one, and we have enough miles to cover for it, and they wanted you to-”

“Annabeth, I can’t accept that without paying for it, the money-”

“Percy, it’s practically free. And my parents- I mean, my stepmom and my dad… I mean, yeah, my parents… They said it could be like a Christmas present to you…”

She trailed off.

I looked at her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Annabeth**

I could see him out of the corner of my eye. My palms were getting sweaty.

“My mom already knows?” His voice sounded strange.

“Yes.”

“And… The ticket…”

“Taken care of.”

“Annabeth, why wouldn’t I want to go?”

My breath caught, and he pressed an excited kiss to my cheek. His leg started bouncing up and down rapidly. “But we’re still celebrating at my mom’s house tonight and in the morning, right?”

I grinned. And grinned. All of that, all of that, and it was easier than I imagined. My heart embarrassingly leaped, and my view about the trip to LA became a thousand times brighter. Christmas with Percy. Two Christmases with Percy, practically. I rested my head on my jittery shoulder. “Of course.”

**Leo**

My heart sank.

I didn’t want to say this. I didn’t want to admit it. But I did, saying, “They didn’t like me back, Calypso. Nobody really likes me back. I don’t know if you knew this, but you kind of picked a loser. I’m not really desirable, not like all of the other guys you’re used to. Not like Odysseus. And definitely not like Percy.”

The words tasted bitter in my mouth. I didn’t really want to look at her. My elbows rested on my knees, my hands twiddled together, my shoulders hung forward a little. I waited for her to speak.

**Calypso**

“Leo Valdez,” I said. “Leo Valdez.”

He raised his head just the slightest millimeter, his ebony curls dangling. Something was growing inside my chest that I couldn’t quite explain.

“Hot stuff,” I called him, awkwardly, feeling my cheeks burn a little as I remembered this particular story. I turned him around and grabbed his face. His eyes flitted back and forth before finally resting on my face, unsettled, not sure what to expect.

“You have no idea,” I told him, my ribcage squeezing up. “How happy I am that you are not Percy Jackson.”

I closed my eyes and rested my forehead to his. I could hear his breathing change.

“You have no idea how happy I am to hear that none of these girls have liked you back. Gods, that sounds terrible. But I can’t deny it- I am so happy that… “ I was about to say “a loser”, but he wasn’t. Not by a long shot. I swallowed it back. “I don’t want hot stuff. I don’t want a perfect hero. And I don’t want desirable.”

He looked at me, unsure. “You don’t desire desirable? Isn’t that kind of a contraction?”

“I think you mean contradiction, but I will just ignore that- I have been dealing with desirable my whole existence, Leo. Guys with Penelopes and Elizabeths and Annabeths… And tonight, I looked at Percy… And I saw how many people revolved around him, how much time he gave Annabeth and his friends and… I would never, in a million years, be able to live with that. The envy would eat me alive. I already have to share you with this camp. I can’t share you with your millions of other girls. Gods, I love you. I love you so much, and I can not understand how nobody else felt the same way, but I am so grateful that they didn’t. If I was joking around, I’d tell you that you are a loser, but you’re not. You are incredible, Leo. And you have been incredible in a way that isn’t obvious, or flashy, or blatantly heroic-” I was rambling now. I kept gripping onto his face. I never wanted to let go. “Or perfect, or flawless, or what an ideal hero should look like… but you're… just…  _magical_.”

I was speaking against his lips by now, the gap between our faces closing, and I smiled into it. “Calypso,” he started, and then started grinning. Like he couldn’t stop.

“And I do like your friends,” I added, pulling his body closer towards mine, feeling like I needed to throw that in there.

“You-were… worried… about-that?” he asked me, with some difficulty. It is hard to talk while laughing and kissing somebody else at the same time. His hands came around to my back.

“I… Knewyou'dget… Along,” he slipped in in between kisses. He hugged me tight. His kisses got sloppier, and more playful, and more rapid-fire, as he pressed his lips over my hair, my cheeks, my shoulder, and he was laughing, and I was laughing, and I tried to grab his face to keep him still, but he was too fast and too jittery, and eventually I gave up trying to kiss his face and found his hand and pressed my lips to his fingers instead. 

I pondered out loud, “I was just… Afraid that-”

I was cut off by a playful lips. I forgot all about what I was saying.

“Wait,” with some effort, Leo rested, leaning back to look at my eyes, still grinning. “Afraid of what?”

I was embarrassed. I did not really feel like saying what I was thinking aloud. But… he did admit his girls issues to me. And that was hard, I could tell. I sighed, closing my eyes.

I began talking.

**Will**

I turned, and she’s there.

“Anything you want?” I asked. Piper smiled at me. Which is kind of weird. She’s one of the people I can stand best out of all Aphrodite kids, but we still don’t exactly have regular conversations.

“Yes, actually,” she took my arm, and I stiffened. I didn’t like where this was going. “I’m kind of worried about Nico.”

I tensed up even more. “What’s wrong with him?” That idiot. What’s he gotten himself into? Shadow traveling again? Wanting to leave camp? He seemed okay this morning, until after Reyna Iris-Messaged him. It’s weird- he looks at me in a different way than he used to…

I don’t know if that’s a bad thing or not. Maybe I want things to go into a different way.

Actually- yeah. Yeah, I do. I do want things to go in a different way.

But not in a bad different way-

“He’s been kind of- I don’t know. Hiding things, I guess. He’ll tense up when he touches certain conversations. And he’ll never talk about you, even though you guys hang out all the time. I just don’t want him to slip into the secretive guy he was last year.”

She sounded so concerned. Something felt weird, in the back of my brain, like there was a little voice that was pushing me to agree with what Piper said. I struggled for a little bit to find something wrong with her sentences, but everything she said made sense. “I don’t want him to slip into the secretive guy he was last year,” I echoed.

“Yes!” Piper threw her hands up. “Thank you! I’m glad we’re on the same page. Anyways. If you can get anything out of him, and- you don’t even have to tell me what he says, just make sure he lets it all out and is okay- tell me about it? I feel like he’ll open up more to you than to me.”

I frowned. Something she said earlier bothered me a little. “He doesn’t want to talk about me?”

“Yeah. He just smiles and waves away all questions,” Piper waved her hand dismissively, but my brain seized on that fact. Nico smiles when they ask him about me?

“I think that… if you’re completely honest with him-” her words. They were echoing in my mind. “Completely honest with him, about everything, and lay all facts on the table, he’ll tell you what’s up with him.”

“Completely honest with him?” I didn’t like that idea, for some reason. It was here that I noticed something was weird about this whole situation. I didn’t know what it was, but-

“I think he wants you to talk to him,” she said, and these words fell on my brain hard. They slammed into it, and everything else that I was thinking washed away. “He’s been looking at you all night.”

I found myself nodding, agreeing. Nico was looking at me all night. And I was looking at him. I agreed with everything Piper said. I would do anything Piper said.

“Just talk to him.”

And suddenly, I was already gone.

**Leo**

I love her.

**Calypso**

I told him.

I told him about me being afraid that he would like camp so much that he wanted to stay. I told him about me being afraid that once we got back, he would get tired of me. I told him I was afraid that his friends were more important than I was.

“I love you,” he told me, seriously. Out of complete shock and surprise, I looked away.

“I’m not going to leave you, Calypso. The problem was you leaving me-“

"Never going to happen.”

“-Like, I got you off the island, and you say, 'See ya! Thanks for bringing me to Percy-’”

“That was  _never_ ,” I said, laughing, head soaring, pushing him lightly on the arms. “Going to happen!”

“'Goodbye, scrawny Latino loser who broke my dining table!’”

“Okay, well, yes, I do want a dining table. But you can make me one later,” I curled up into his arms, burying my head into his shoulder, laughter still in my chest. He kissed a place on my head, and then rested his cheek on it, and we stayed like that for a long, long time. 

 

**Hazel**

After dragging Frank to a bed, and watching him pass out, I wrapped the presents quietly, in thought. Where would someone go if they were upset?

I always went to the top of the Hades shrine with Nico, but Reyna-

Oh.

Oh.

Of course.

I knew where she was.

**Nico**

“What’s this about Will?”

I groaned. “I swear, on my life, I’m going to sic some ghosts on you, I’m not afraid to-”

“Stop. You need to know this: if he’s worth it, if he makes some sort of step forward, you have to take a step forward. Or else you guys are going to circle each other, and circle each other, and circle each other, and you’ll drive each other insane. It’s been, what, four months? You guys clearly like each other.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Will doesn’t like me.”

“Bull. And if you really keep up that attitude, he never will.” Jason paused, wincing. “Sorry. That was punintentional, I swea- unintentional. Unintentional. Gods.”

A figure was coming towards us. “Just… think about what I said.”

And he was gone.

**Piper**

“I sent him over as fast as I could. As more time passes, charmspeak wears off.”

“They’re going away. We should follo-”

“Jason. No. Privacy. We’ll just have to wait until they come back.”

“You didn’t charmspeak him into kissing Nico, did you? Because… I mean, I’m 99.99999 % sure that they like each other, but if I’m wrong, and the charmspeak wears off, and Will kissed Nico without actually liking him…”

“No. I just told him to speak the truth. So if he likes Nico, he’ll tell him.”

“That’s really smart. A little honesty goes a long way. I wish Nico would just realize that… he doesn’t have to coop everything up…”

I’d stopped for a minute before going on walking. It seemed like that middle part was directed to me.

I sighed and spun around, steadying my hands against Jason’s shoulders.

“Jason.”

“Whoa,” he stumbled a little. “Yeah? What’s up?”

“I’m not spending Christmas here.”

He furrowed his brows. He opened his mouth to say something.

“I’m spending it with my dad. In Hollywood. And… gods. It just sucks, because I really wanted to spend it as a reunion Christmas-”

“Pipes.”

“With you, and Leo, and we would’ve even been able to get to talk to Calypso-”

“Piper.”

“And what if I just messed up Leo and Calypso? And tomorrow I’m not here to fix it? Because I’m with my dad? I would’ve ruined Leo, ruined Christmas, and I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself.”

I had to sit down. My mind was blowing up with these thoughts. I breathed in the camp air, trying to not feel so guilty to leave it all behind.

Jason sat down beside me. He waited a little, until I looked at him, and I realized he was waiting until I was done. “You can comfort me now. Sorry.”

He laughed. “First of all, we’ve been over this. You did not ruin Leo and Calypso. And the proof is right there.”

He pointed. They were snuggled into each other, on one of the benches, wrapped up in their own warmth.

I put my hand to my mouth, my eyes crinkling with laughs that I couldn’t laugh out loud. Jason pulled me away to give the two some space.

We kept walking.

“Second of all, there are other Christmas-es. You don’t need to feel so guilty.”

“But Leo’s here-”

“I thought it was my turn to comfort you now?”

I laughed, feeling the knot in my throat and heart slowly unravel. “Okay. Okay, go on.”

“Leo will be here again. He’s not going to die, and he’s not going to let anything stop him from getting here. Nothing can stop him- not Gaea, not a malfunctioning dragon, not a snow queen, and definitely not anything else that’s stupid enough to throw itself at him. And Calypso is with him, to keep him from doing anything too crazy. We’ll all- all of us- be able to hang out again.”

“Not on Christmas,” I said, quietly. It was so weird how much power just the name and the time of Christmas had over me- December 25th. Christmas Day. Anything that happened then was just… special.

“And if it matters so much to you-” he said, lacing his fingers through mine. “We can have our own Christmas, when you get back. And I’ll think up of something magical. And it’ll be just as special as the actual day. And Leo’s here for the whole week, so-”

“What?”

“On December 26th, we can celebrate.”

“December 27th. I’m with my dad for two days-”

“December 27th, then. Doesn’t matter. It’s gonna be great. I promise.”

“Wait, I’m sorry- Leo’s going to be here the whole week?”

“Weren’t you listening to anything he said last time?”

“I… I guess not.”

“Well, he is. And we both know how much your dad means to you. Don’t feel guilty.”

“I just… really wanted to spend it with you guys.”

“And you will. We’ll make our own traditional Christmas. December 27th.”

“December 27th.”

“All three of us.”

“Four of us, if Calypso wants to join-”

“Just like last year.”

“But with an extra person.”

“Yes.”

“Unless she doesn’t want to join-”

“Then she doesn’t have to.”

“Okay.”

“All good?”

“Yes. Thank you. For comforting me, and all.”

“I guess I’ll just have to give you your Christmas present early, then. Let me go get it.”

“Oh! Yes! Yeah, me too. Meet here?”

“Five minutes.”

“On zero… Three… Two… One… zero-”

We ran off.

**Reyna**

“Hey.”

I knew that voice. I turned around, snapping out of my thoughts.

“Oh. Hazel.” My own voice was a little cracked, and dry, and sore. I cleared it and started again. “Hello. I didn’t know you were looking for me.”

“Luckily I knew where to find you. Why are you hanging out here, in the dark?”

I smiled tiredly. The Bellona temple was very beautiful and regal- in the daytime. At night, it became a little unnerving. But I’d been coming here in the day, in the night, ever since I first arrived at camp, and nothing about it was scary to me anymore. “Just a place that can… unravel my thoughts.”

“Why didn’t you join everyone in the hall? We all missed you.”

My smile was genuine at that. “Thank you. But I’m a little…”

“Exhausted?”

“You can put it that way.”

“You need some sleep,” the daughter of Pluto insisted. “And rest. Can’t you take Christmas off?”

“The ceremon-”

“Have someone else do the ceremonies! Reyna- you and Frank are dying out there. Take a break for once. Don’t you want to enjoy Christmas?”

“Someone has to do it.”

“Can’t we at least shorten it down? Or… maybe I can take over-”

“In Rome, tradition is everything. You know that. And as much as I appreciate you offering, I’m afraid you can’t. Someone needs to already know the knowledge of going through the practices and offerings and prayers… I’m afraid you can’t learn it all in one night. Frank doesn’t know it, but I’ll be leading, so he can simply be present and learn as he goes along. Also- I wouldn’t do that to you. You should enjoy Christmas.”

“You should enjoy Christmas.”

“I wish.” The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them. “I mean, it’s my duty and an honor. I’ll be enjoying myself.”

“You sound like you’re going to pass out.”

“You know what?” I said, laughing a little as I took some steps towards the door, my eyelids weighing themselves down. “Sleep doesn’t sound too bad after all…”

“Sometimes tradition should change, you know,” Hazel rushed to help me, letting me lean on her shoulder as we walked out of the temple. “Alliance with the Greeks reminds us of that.”

I waved my hand and closed my eyes. I was too tired to argue.

She talked a little bit more, and I tried to focus on the words, but sleep pulled me under. I only managed to lean myself onto some surface before drowning in dreams.

**Will**

_Completely honest with him. Completely honest with him. Completely honest with him._

**Nico**

My mouth is dry. I’m glad it’s dark, because heat’s flushing to my face. I don’t like myself like this.

But I kind of love it at the same time.

“Nico,” he was barreling towards me. I folded my arms.

“Will-”

“Completely honest with you.”

“I- What?”

“I’m going to be completely honest with you,” his face was dreamy, a little determined… I was a little scared, actually. I wasn’t really sure what was going on.

I didn’t really like honesty, sometimes. Or throwing the truth out there. It hurt sometimes.

“I know you don’t like honesty,” he started out. I stood, in shock. It was like the words were being pulled right out of my brain. His hair glinted little flashes of gold, catching the holiday Christmas lights in the sky and in the woods that everyone put up. “But I think it’s good for you. Even if you don’t think so. I can kind of tell by the way you’re scowling right now that you don’t like where this is going. You’re really cute when you scowl.”

His cheeks were getting a little darker, I think, but not nearly as dark as mine were getting. “Will, what are you-”

The guy couldn’t stop. “And you’re really infuriating sometimes. Really, really infuriating. Like today, when you’d look at me, and drive me crazy, and I think we’re getting somewhere, but then you don’t talk to me? And when you try to go off on your own whenever you’re upset, and you think that sitting and wallowing in your feelings will make it any better. Especially when I’m right here, actually wanting to listen to every one of your little thoughts, and it’d actually make you feel loads better, and you refuse to.”

“Dude,” my mouth kept on talking, but my brain wasn’t connected. Something was happening to me- this golden feeling that burst in my chest and lightened my brain and kind of hurt all over- ”It’s not your burden-”

“What if I want it to be my burden? What if I didn’t care what kind of crazy thoughts you have in your brain? What if I actually want to hear them? You’re really stupid, sometimes, but it’s cute, so I put up with it. You’re really cute. And I really like you. I’ve liked you for a while now, and you don’t seem to get it, and you’re so stupid-”

I can’t speak. I can’t form words. It’s- Honestly? Pathetically?- probably the best feeling I’ve had in my life since Bianca died. I close my eyes.

“I wish you would just see-”

Something in my brain clicked. Just one thing. Everything else was fizzing out, short-circuiting, buzzing, doing things on their own, but Jason’s words-

You have to take a step forward.

“Your face right now-”

My feet were already moving. It seemed like they already knew what to do.

“So you could understand what a little-”

My hand found his hand, and we were holding them together. He was still talking, calling me a long list of profanities and repeatedly telling me that I was cute, but he was slowing down.

His hand was really warm. Mine were really cold, but they were heating up. He had that effect on my body.

“Shut up,” I said, not really sure where my own words were coming from. I pulled his shirt down. “Shut up, shut up, shut up-”

He was still talking when our mouths connected, but it instantly stopped. I’m not going to lie- the first part was awkward, and a little clumsy, and for a second I panicked, afraid I was doing it all wrong. But then came this one point where everything clicked together, and we fit together, and I saw stars and thought, “ _Yes_.”

I had both hands around his cheeks, and he brought up his own hands to cover mine. Our fingers interlaced. He was smiling. Of course the idiot was smiling. Absolutely grinning. I could feel the sunshine on his lips.

It was the best feeling I’ve ever had.

I think I was dizzy, when we finally let go. I was spinning, and dizzy, and my brain was golden light.

I scowled, and I could hear him laugh, and just that noise sent me walking on sunshine again.

I am so far gone.

**Will**

I am so far gone.


	4. Chapter 4

****Christmas Day****

**Frank**

I woke up drowsily. Everyone else had cleared out, while Hazel was already excitedly telling me about what she’d just heard, before I even opened my eyes.

Jason’d Iris-Messaged her to tell her the update of what he was doing today.

She seemed really excited about this part, and I blinked my eyes a bunch of times, wondering where she was going with this. A wave of nausea hit me. The celebrations. Ceremonies. I need to figure that all out right now. And I was just about to, but she cut me off. “No, wait. That was important. Just listen. The Jason part. But before I go into detail about it, I just have to tell you-”

Apparently, Will and Nico were spotted holding hands, laughing, at the end of the night. Piper and Jason had something to do with it, and when Will and Nico finally went off to their own cabins, Will told Piper:

“I know what you did. You’re lucky it worked out. If I wasn’t so happy tonight, I would’ve cursed you into rhyming couplets for the next few weeks, charmspeak girl. But as it is…,” here, Jason told her, that Will actually hummed a little tune, his face grinning the whole time. “Thanks. And don’t even think about doing that again.”

**Percy**

I’d almost wished Annabeth’d gotten me something terrible, so it made up for what I’d given her.

No luck.

It was a cell phone.

I looked up at her, and before I could even open my mouth, she listed off-

“Has a masking case, so it doesn’t really give off an electronic signal to monsters unless you use it excessively. Uses its own wifi. Can Iris-Message, too, if you deposit drachma into it. No charge necessary- at least not until Hermes or Hephaestus catches us, and I don’t think they care enough. Plus, all the gods still owe us for saving their butts in the war.”

But how-

“Daedalus computer,” she tapped her bag next to her, beaming. She kissed my awed cheek. “It can do anything.”

But there was more.

Pictures. A whole bunch of them. Ones I hadn’t even known we taken together. Loads and loads that I wanted to go through one by one later.

“Just in case you forget again.” She’d whispered to me, or maybe herself, barely. Her fingers twitched. My mom hadn’t heard.

I wanted to hold her and curse Hera to the ground right there, but by then I’d already told her I loved both of them and she was moving on to her presents.

Owl sweaters, SAT books, earrings, and a new Celestial bronze dagger that wasn’t nearly as good enough as her old one. They were okay, yeah. She’d laughed and hugged me and kissed my cheek.

But they weren’t perfect.

**Jason**

“Merry Christmas, guys.” I’d told them. Nico had scowled and rolled his eyes at me, embarrassed, but Will was perfectly content with holding Nico’s hand- his thumb rubbing the side of it- and displaying it to everyone and anyone who’d walk by.

“Actually,” Will said, “I’m Jewish. But thanks.”

Piper’d been waiting for me, as Mellie and Coach Hedge watched their goat baby fondly kick behind her.

She’d been thumbing her gift- a Cherokee necklace with a feather on it. I also had some of the Athena kids make her a blanket with one side Cherokee, the other side Greek.

She, in turn, had given me a coin- Greek drachma on one side, Imperial gold on the other, exactly like my old one.

“Can’t turn into a sword like your old one did,” she said, getting a little shy. It was adorable. “But, you know… So you don’t forget your Roman roots…”

“I love it.”

“Shhh,” she beamed, putting her fingers up. “There’s more.”

Then she told me to throw my glasses on the floor.

I hesitantly did. She told me to step on them. I even more hesitantly did.

Unbreakable glasses. She’d made my glasses unbreakable.

“I was wondering why these disappeared for a week,” my eyes crinkled as I put them on and blinked.

“And we can get them to never fall off your face again when you come back. The Hephaestus cabin didn’t have enough time-”

“You’re perfect.”

“Cheesy,” she’d laughed, straightening my crooked glasses again. “But I love it.”

Now, we stood face-to-face, me giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. She pulled me in for a deep hug.

“Cupcakes,” Coach Hedge warned, but his little baby’s screaming distracted him, and we ignored him.

“Merry Christmas,” she said.

“Merry-”

“Superman! Beauty Queen! Merry Christmas!”

And suddenly there was another head resting on our shoulders, and a strong smell of peppermint gum and sweat settled into our hug. Piper laughed and pulled him in. Coach Hedge was shouting at us, but we were too busy shouting and screaming and kicking up the snow before Piper realized there was one more person standing to the side.

She pulled Calypso in, ignoring her protests, and we all jumped around together, screaming, before Coach Hedge got himself involved.

“All right, cupcakes, break it up. You wanna wake the whole state? Mellie’s gotta get moving so she can get back as soon as she can.”

Piper nodded, stepping back, holding her red nose to warm it up. She gathered her bags altogether. “All right. All right, guys. See you in two days?”

“And…” Calypso put in hesitantly, “In summers.”

It took a little bit to let this news settle in.

“You guys are coming here in summers? Like actually staying?”

Leo beamed. “Yeah, baby!”

“That’s… Holy-”

“That’s amazing!”

“It’s fabulous,” Coach Hedge butted in, “But some people need to get a move on.”

Piper gave a good glare at Coach, but before she could say anything, Leo laughed. “No, no, it’s all good. I can talk when you get back. We have all week.”

She nodded, and smiled. “Merry Christmas, guys.”

She gave me each one of them a hug, and then gave me a kiss- a long one- before grabbing onto Mellie’s hand.

Coach Hedge grunted. “Come on, kid, you too.”

I grinned and grabbed onto Mellie’s other hand.

There was a beat.

“Wait,” Piper realized. “Wait, Jason-”

“Here we go!” Mellie cried happily.

And we whirled over to Los Angeles.

**  
  
**

**Piper**

Oh my gods.

“It’s just for breakfast,” he was telling me, totally pleased with himself. “I asked Mellie if I could tag along just for the transportation ride, and she mentioned me coming to LA to your dad, and he apparently was fine with meeting me. But I actually came for Camp Jupiter, to catch up on Pontifex stuff, you know, and I’m going to have you all day to myself on the 27th anyways, so I wanted you and him to spend your two days together.”

I couldn’t speak. I laced my hand through his. He laughed, blue eyes twinkling, understanding what I meant.

“Merry Christmas. For I think the millionth time now.”

**Annabeth**

He was stiff, and still.

My heart went into overdrive.

Was he having second thoughts? Did he even want to come? Or did he come because I pushed him to, or he felt bad about the tickets? Oh, gods, what if he doesn’t really want to come?

“Is everything okay?” I asked, nervously. He gave the tightest nod ever in return. That was not particularly reassuring. And then it hit me, and I realized, too stupid and too late, what an idiot I was- 

“The… Air,” he gasped, shaking his head, as the plane began to take off. He was closing his eyes, looking ready to just about die.

My heart picked up and plummetted at the same time. So it was the air. Not my family. Oh, my gods. I made him air travel. I made my boyfriend take the risk of dying-

He gripped my hand and closed his eyes. “Should be fine,” he reassured me (ME, the one that WASN’T at risk). “Zeus can’t blast me, right? At least not without a warning. At least not right after the war. At least not with my dad still around.”

But he looked like he was ready to throw up. Or pass out. Or throw himself out the window.

I clutched his hand tighter and talked to him for five hours about war strategy, Christmas, and college.

**Frank**

We just finished up breakfast speeches. I rubbed my eyes and ate as much food as I could wolf down. One down, nine more to go.

I still didn’t really understand what Hazel was trying to talk to me about this morning. So Jason was coming by. She said something about me wanting a relaxed Christmas, and how I was going to get one, and I nodded, but I was kind of sleepy, and I didn’t put the pieces together.

Until later, when she bound up to me and Reyna with Jason in tow.

“Guys,” she announced. “Guys.”

Jason’s eyes were sparkling, his mouth up in a smile. “I missed this place.”

He was wearing a coin- an Imperial Gold one. I looked closer and saw a flash of Greek writing on the other side. I swallowed my eggs and smiled as wide as an exhausted guy could. “Welcome back.”

We hugged it out, and he went over to hug Reyna, and we talked a little bit before Hazel started beaming.

“He knows the rituals. No practice necessary.”

For a beat, even Reyna looked confused. And then her eyebrows raised.

“Respected position on the Senate board.”

“Hazel-”

“Former praetor. And he’s willing.”

I was still confused, but I turned along with Reyna and matched the quizzical look on her face. Jason shrugged back, shifting from foot to foot excitedly. “I’m totally fine with it, if you guys are. I mean, I know Greeks shouldn’t really be doing Roman ceremonies-”

“You’re not full Greek,” Hazel reminded him, looking over his clothes. Double sided coin. Purple t-shirt, tattoos, Camp Half-Blood necklace, Roman-Greek toga. “And we’re not intolerant here at Camp Jupiter anymore, right, Reyna?”

Something clicked in my brain. “Wait. Are you going to take over from here?”

“If you’ll let me.”

“Terminus could stand behind him to make sure he doesn’t mess up,” Hazel pointed out. “He’d love doing that.”

Reyna’s eyes were full of longing. She looked back and forth from Hazel, to Frank, to the podium.

“It is tradition…”

“Traditions were made to be broken.”

“We’d still have to do the ending ceremonies…”

“Then do them.”

“Terminus agreed to this?”

In a flash, Terminus was already there.

In another flash, he vanished, excitedly preparing.

“Are you sure you want to?”

“Reyna. Please. Of course I do.”

She slumped back, and I leaned forward, watching her, her eyes flitted back and forth warily. She let a smile stretch across her face. “Then take it away.”

I sighed in huge relief, and Hazel took my hand excitedly. As we got up and made our way towards the rec area, where “We’re going to watch Christmas movies all day-” Hazel planned out, we noticed that it was just the two of us.

We turned back. Reyna was looking after us, distantly, before accidentally catching our eyes.

“Aren’t you coming?” Hazel called out. I waved her over.

She blinked once.

“We have your presents,” Hazel laughed. I wiggled my eyebrows. “And we’re watching Christmas movies.”

A wide grin rested over her face, and Reyna excused herself from the table with Jason. Immediately, old friends flocked around him, catching up.

“And I have yours,” she told us, and we all ran to the rec hall together.

****

**Annabeth**

He seemed bummed.

Ever since we landed, and the queasiness faded, he still seemed a little quiet. If he hadn’t even really wanted to come, this would’ve been the most awful Christmas for him…

I asked him if everything was okay, and he smiled sadly and said it was just the plane. And he leaned his head on my shoulder.

“Don’t throw up on me,” I told him jokingly as I ran my fingers through his hair. He smiled, at that.

We were quiet for a while.

“I’m sorry,” I told him. He raised his eyebrows. “What are you sorry for?”

“For all of this. The plane. Forcing you to come meet my parents. All this traveling and family stuff. I’m sorry if you’re not looking forward to it-”

He propped himself up onto his elbows, put put his chin in his hands, and looked up at me in complete surprise.

“Are we actually having the meet the parents talk right now? We do not need a meet the parents talk. Wise Girl, I’ve met your parents. They seem fine. Better than fine. I wanted to come. More than anything.”

Why was I so nervous still?

**Reyna**

I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time.

**Frank**

All three of us, curled up on the couch. Not doing anything special- just talking and making fun of Santa’s laugh and drinking hot cocoa.

I think it was probably the most perfect Christmas ever.

**Hazel**

It was a great day. How did everything manage to work out so perfectly?

 

**Annabeth**

He was great. For the rest of the taxi ride, Percy wouldn’t stop talking. My dad remembered him, and Percy high-fived him for the “Sweet Sopwith riding”, and my dad beamed. My stepmom winked at me as we came in, and just as I was about to be horrified, she swiftly started talking to Percy about school and the future. He played Legos and Space Attack with my brothers. And he was laughing the whole time.

When we were opening presents, though, and I gave them all their presents, and opened all of my presents, he seemed drained. He leaned back on the couch and seemed exhausted.

My dad noticed. “You guys get some rest,” he said. “Annabeth can show you the room.”

I waited until the door shut.

“Are you okay?”

Percy smiled at me tiredly. “Just tired-”

“You seem more than just tired. You’ve seemed more than just tired since this morning.”

He sighed, frustratedly, and fell back onto my bed, hands behind neck. His eyes focused on my ceiling. “Clouds?”

“Stop trying to change the subject.”

He grinned, but it faded. “Your gifts.”

“My- what?”

“Your gifts,” he said. “You got me this awesome cell phone, and all those photos of us, and it was perfect, like all the gifts you give me, and I gave you-”

“About a million great presents,” I stared at him. “I don’t understand-”

“Great presents. Not great enough.”

“Is this what you were worrying about this whole entire time?”

This whole mood and mess… because of that. This is so… stupid. This is so Percy.

I started laughing. And he frowned, getting up.

I curled up next to him, pushing him down again. “You,” I kissed his cheek, “Are so stupid.”

He looked bewildered, blinking. I laughed again and tucked my face into the crook of his arm.

“Your presents were great,” I told him. “The bronze dagger? The sea earrings? They were great, Percy.”

He was still frowning. “I just wanted to them to be… like, something you gasped at. Or something that made you speechless.”

“ _You_ make me speechless.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“You came with me to Los Angeles on a plane to hang out with my family. That makes me speechless. That’s the best gift you could’ve given me. Percy-” I held my breath and released it. “You have no idea…”

He was quiet. “This really means a lot to you, huh?”

It didn’t seem like a question, but I answered it anyways.

I breathed him in. “More than you even know.”

An image of Percy leaning across the counter in the living room, laughing and joking with my dad, was something I couldn’t get out of my head.

“But… of course I’d come. I don’t understand why you’d think I wouldn’t,” he sounded perplexed. “I don’t know why-”

The plane. My family. The possibility of them all not getting along. My brothers being annoying, everything being awkward, my dad acting oddly, my stepmother being uncomfortable-

None of that happened. They all loved him.

I loved him.

I wrapped my arms around his stomach and he stopped mid sentence. I could feel his smile in my hair.

“Best Christmas ever,” I told him, and he hugged me tighter.

“Then it’s mine, too.”

We’re still here now.

And this moment, this present moment, was the best present he could’ve gotten me.

**Reyna**

Nico called me later, that night, shortly after Hylla did. Her and the Amazons’ present for me (well. For “Camp Jupiter”) will be arriving by air shortly. I teared up and couldn’t speak when she showed me him- a small thing with a butterscotch coat and wings dusted in certain spots with a charcoal shade.

“He’s small now,” she said, “But they grow up so fast.”

Still speechless. I had to give myself a couple seconds before I could manage to say, “I don’t know how-”

“Oh, please. Nobody wants this one because he’s so riled. But that’s just because he hasn’t met you. And if all goes wrong, Hazel Levesque could always try to speak to him. She tamed Arion, after all.”

I rarely cried in front of people. I forced myself to stop the welling in my eyes at once and nod at my sister. She was laughing at me. “Thank you,” I said, my throat closing up. “Thank you so much.”

“He’s not here to replace Scipio, of course. Because nothing could ever be able to do that,” she said, as the pegasus attempted to bite through its chain that kept it tethered to the ground. “But what he will be is another great friend for you to have.”

“Thank you. And- I love you, Hylla.”

“Love you too. Merry Christmas.”

“Hey,” I said, as Nico’s Arcus-Message popped up. Ending ceremonies went well. Jason departed for Camp Half-Blood again, Hazel and Frank took off for some alone alone time, and I was… happy. Much happier than I was yesterday.

“Hey,” Nico grinned back. Speaking of people who looked happier than they did yesterday- his cheeks were flushed, and this crazy smile couldn’t seem to slip off his face… “Am I interrupting something?”

He probably could hear the bangs and cheers in the background.

I laughed, stupidly, unable to help myself. Christmas was in the air. “No. What’s up with you? You seem… over the moon.”

He blushed. It was obvious, even in the dark. He attempted a scowl, but let it go after just a moment.

“Yeah, I guess I am. You too, though! What’s happening over there?”

I raised my eyebrows. “You answer my question first.”

I got my answer without Nico even needing to speak. Off to the side, someone yelled, “Nico!”

It sounded distinctly like the boy I’d seen trying to hold Nico’s hand yesterday.

He smiled wider, rolling his eyes. “He’s so needy,” Nico complained happily. “Sorry about that.”

“Hm.” I was teasing him, gently. I’d already heard what’d happened from Hazel. “Is something going on over there?”

I could see him start to protest, with his face. But he shook it off.

“Yeah. Yeah, there is. And it’s amazing. So there’s your answer. But what about you- what about the answer I want?”

“We got a break today, and I hung out with Frank and Hazel all day, watching movies. And… it was great. It doesn’t really sound like much, but it was great.”

“That’s awesome.”

“I know.”

“It feels like… I don’t know. I feel like Christmas was especially Christmas-y this year, you know?”

“I understand.”

“It didn’t suck so much.”

“I understand.”

“If it’s like this every year…” He looked off to the side and stuck his tongue out. At Will, no doubt. “I think I understand why everyone loves Christmas so much.”

“Same over here. Everything is just so… great.”

“Not lonely anymore?”

“No. Your advice was good. It was all right in front of me.”

“Your advice was pretty great, too.”

We both sighed, basking in comfortable silence for a beat or two. “Merry Christmas, Nico.”

“Merry Christmas, Reyna.”

“Iris-Message you at New Years?”

“Of course.”

“And bring Will over to Camp Jupiter sometime, okay? See you then.”

****


End file.
